“We could have gone on making these for ever, but I felt that we had most of the icons that you will find useful made so decided to leave the set at 128 Icons, they are only available in 48×48px. These free icons are exactly that, free! You can use them anywhere”

Wefunction.com has released a pack of 128 slick, clean and glossy icons. We never say no to free stuff, so head over there and grab the icon pack. Really nice work guys, thanks!

“In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to use Fireworks CS3 and Illustrator CS3 together. You’ll create some illustrative vector elements to add to the final composition. You’ll also mix in photos and light effects. Learn how to use a cool paper background and tips to improve your workflow.”

In case you haven’t visited Vectortuts.com yet, I suggest you check them out. They got some great vector tutorials!

“Ornamental web design is often comprised of swirling, curling, or flower shaped elements. This style is influenced from decorative art pieces and architectural accents from centuries ago. Using ornamental style is a great way to give your site a classic look. Here is a list of Photoshop brushes that should help you out with your next ornamental design.”

I’m a big fan of brushes and vectors, and when I saw this collection at designreviver.com I just had to post it.

Click here to view the collection.

A tutorial by blog.spoongraphics.co.uk

Starting with the design application of Adobe Illustrator create a group of vector based geometric lines at dynamic 45 degree angles, then follow the walk through to rough them up with brush textures in Adobe Photoshop resulting in a cool and trendy design style.

Click here to view the tutorial

“Desktop wallpapers can serve as an excellent source of inspiration. However, if you use some specific wallpaper for a long period of time, it becomes harder to draw inspiration out of it. That’s why we have decided to supply you with smashing wallpapers over 12 months.”

SmashingMagazine.com has featured a handful of wallpapers for July 2008. Some really nice looking ones in there too! (I’m currently using the one above at work, while I dream of going on a vacation…)

“A very wise designer once told me that his best advertising is a successful project. If you’re being asked to make changes that degrade the quality of your work then you may be better off looking for clients that will improve your portfolio.”

I’m pretty sure a lot of you that visit stockvault.net work as freelancers, full time, or just from time to time. That’s why I decided to feature this short article written by colbowdesign.com – It’s basically a problem (if you can call it that) that most of us freelancers have to face at one point or another. I used to work as a full time freelancer a few years back, and I can agree with most of the points the author makes. I’ve had to “fire” clients as well, and I always had a tough time doing it. Usually it was after I got sick with the way they went around things, or simply, I didn’t get paid!

So, this is a very good read that gives you a little insight into how you can both raise red flags, and react when facing  such a client.

Click here to read the article.

The team at (the new) AudioJungle.com is hosting a contest where the member that has the most referrers wins a $500 gift voucher to ThinkGeek.com

From the official contest site:
“Every referral to AudioJungle until August 1st will go in the draw to win one of two US$500 gift vouchers to ThinkGeek.com. ThinkGeek has every cool gizmo and gadget you could imagine, as well as clothes, bags, watches, astronaut icecream and much more. Sound good? Here’s how you enter…

If you’re already signed up as a referrer, just keep on doing what you’re doing and get your referrer link out there. Every new sign-up will mean one entry into the competition!

If you are not yet a referrer, never fear, you can still enter. All you need to do is log in, click here, and you’ll see your referrer link. You can use it anywhere you like (outside of the FlashDen/AudioJungle sites), and every time someone clicks through then deposits cash you’ll not only earn half that cash but will go into the draw to win one of the ThinkGeek US$500 gift vouchers!“

Click here to read more about the contest and it’s rules.

It’s time to celebrate because today we reached 10.000 uploaded photos. YAY!!

The 10.000 photo was uploaded by Corey Hughes

Thanks for all the uploads guys, let’s keep it up and continue creating this valuable resource for designers and photographers!